Welcome to the latest BriefingsDirect Analyst Insights Edition, Vol. 41. Our latest topic centers on the next era of information technology (IT). Suddenly, cloud computing is the dominant buzzword of the day, but the current confluence of trends includes much more. There is business process modeling, business intelligence, complex event processing, service-oriented architecture, software as a service, Web-oriented architecture, and even Enterprise 2.0. How do all of these relate? Or if they don't relate, is there a common theme? Is there an overriding uber direction for IT that we need to consider? The cloud computing moniker just doesn't include enough and doesn't bring us to the next stage. In the words of Huey Lewis, we need a "new drug." Join our panel of guests and analysts to help dig into the new era of IT: Jim Kobielus, senior analyst at Forrester Research; Tony Baer, senior analyst at Ovum; Brad Shimmin, senior analyst, Current Analysis; Joe McKendrick, independent analyst and ZDNet blogger, and Ron Schmelzer, senior analyst at ZapThink. Our discussion is hosted and moderated by BriefingsDirect's Dana Gardner. Read a full transcript of the discussion at http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2009/05/briefingsdirect-analysts-take-pulse-of.html. Charter Sponsor: Active Endpoints. Sponsor: TIBCO Software.

Bringing enterprise applications effectively out to mobile devices has required some harsh trade-offs for developers. To gain access to devices, you lose functionality and portability, for example. But thanks to the sizable impact that the Apple iPhone and its WebKit browser have had in the market -- and the lure of new business opportunities around mobile application stores -- the mobile Web has suddenly become more attractive and attainable for mainstream developers. Such technologies as HTML 5, Android, WebKit and advances in scripting and open source tools are allowing developers to target mobile devices better than ever. To learn more about how the development field for mobile Web applications is shaping up and how targeting the modern mobile Web browser may be removing some of the harshness from the trade-offs of the past, we assembled a panel of development experts. Join Stephen O'Grady, founder and analyst at RedMonk; Wayne Parrott, vice president for product development at Genuitec, and David Beers, a senior wireless developer at MapQuest as we unpack the mobile Web. The podcast is moderated by IT industry analyst Dana Gardner. Read a full transcript of the discussion at http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2009/05/rise-of-webkit-advances-mobile-webs.html. Sponsor: Genuitec.

The Open Group, a vendor- and technology-neutral consortium, held its 22nd annual Enterprise Architecture Practitioner's Conference in London, England in April 22. This panel discussion podcast, "Resisting Short-term Thinking: Rationalizing Investments in Enterprise Architecture During a Recession," uncovered insights into how enterprise architects can help businesses and IT departments during periods of turmoil. The challenge for EA is to be able to balance the long-term goals against the pressing short-term needs of the business. There are intense commercial pressures right now to reduce costs at a time when capital expenditure is severely constrained. Operational efficiency has become an imperative, but agility and speed to market are equally as important. Join Kevin White, contributing editor to Computer Business Review in the UK, as he moderates the panel. Guests include Henry Peyret, principal analyst at Forrester Research; Phil Pavitt, the group CIO for Transport for London; Thomas Obitz, a principal architect at Infosys; Mike Turner, enterprise architect at Capgemini, and Terry Blevins, a senior principal information systems engineer at MITRE and Open Group Customer Council Board member. Listen here or read a full transcript of the discussion at: http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2009/05/enterprise-architecture-strategy-aligns.html. Sponsor: The Open Group.

Our topic on BriefingsDirect Analyst Insights Edition, Vol. 40, centers on platform as a service (PaaS), part of the cloud computing taxonomy that pertains to software and services development over the Internet. Developers can use tools and testing apparatus as a service on someone else's data center, building and refining their applications and services, and even putting them through some real world performance testing, before going into production and use. We've seen a great deal of interest by the developers in using Amazon's Web services for PaaS. We've also seen a lot of action and interest from the likes of Google, Microsoft, and even IBM. Yet a lot of enterprise operators and mangers don't even see PaaS on their radar. They're much more interested in the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) components of cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS). So, what is PaaS good for and how will it impact enterprises? We're joined by a panel of guests and analysts to help dig into the enterprise role of PaaS: Jim Kobielus, senior analyst at Forrester Research; David A. Kelly, president of Upside Research; Mike Meehan, senior analyst at Current Analysis; Jonathan Bryce, co-founder of Mosso at Rackspace, and Rourke McNamara, product marketing director at TIBCO Software. Our discussion is hosted and moderated by BriefingsDirect's Dana Gardner. Read a full transcript of the discussion at http://briefingsdirect.blogspot.com/2009/05/briefingsdirect-analysts-unpack.html. Charter Sponsor: Active Endpoints. Sponsor: TIBCO Software.